Sony looks to expand on Blu-ray players

CES: Developing recordable units, 400-disc changer

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/8/2009

JAN. 8 | LAS VEGAS—Although one of Blu-ray Disc's biggest supporters, Sony did not unveil any new players for the format during its Wednesday Consumer Electronics Show press conference here.

Much of its new products for 2009 seem focused towards light-weight lap-tops and TVs with enhanced Web accessibility. However, Sony's CES booth is showcasing several Blu-ray player prototypes with such new innovations as recording capabilities and access to thousands of Web-delivered movies and TV shows.

The BD-writer player includes all the features of a regular Blu-ray player with the added benefit of being able to record camcorder video and digital photos onto discs for viewing on TV displays. These players would be able to hold 50GB of videos/photos.

Another player is geared towards offering a huge library of downloadable and/or streaming entertainment from a variety of suppliers. Other manufacturers, such as LG and Samsung, already offer streamed movies through Netflix on their respective Blu-ray players, but Sony hopes to offer content from a number of movie/TV suppliers.

"We are talking to content companies and seeing if there is interest from them. [This player] is quite possibly something we will do," said Dave Seperson, content training manager at Sony.

Also, Sony is considering launching a 400-disc Blu-ray changer for the mass market. They earlier introduced a similar product for the luxury home theater market.